Improvement in fence for collecting rain-water for stock



a small intervening space between.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUTHER HOWE, `GFALAMO, MICHIGAN IMPROVEMENT IN FENCE FOR COLLECTINGRAIN-WATER FOR STOCK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 74,690, dated February18, 1868.

To all whom 't may concern: 4

Be it known that I, LUTHER Howe, of

- Alamo, in the county of Kalamazoo and State of Michigan, have inventeda new and useful Mode of Collecting Water for the Use of Stock on dryfarms 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being had to the annexeddrawings, forming a part of this speciiication, in which- Y Figure l isa perspective view. Fig. 2 is a cross-section.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in bothfigures.

The object of my invention is to collect and convey to a suitablereservoir a portion of the rain which falls in the open fields, for theuse of the animals grazing therein 54 and thebetter to enable farmersand others to construct and avail themselves of the benefit of myinvention, I will now proceed to describe its nature and operation.

My invention consists in connecting with the top of a iield fence orwall two sloping boards,'which incline toward each other, withImmediately below this central space, between the two sloping boards,which I term raincol lectors,7 and are seen at A, I place gutters B,made of sheet metal or any other suitable material, to convey the watershed from the collectors into a trough (not shown) suitable for vanimalsto drink from, the waste water being led beneath to a reservoir of anysuitable kind, sunk in the ground.

(l represents the posts, and D the rails of an ordinary farm-fence. Tothe upper end of each post I nail securely a double projecting bracket,E, its upper edge being shaped to a suitable obtuse angle to receive theraincol lecting boards aforesaid, which are nailed to them. If therain-gutters B are of sheet metal, I usually shape out a curve in thecenter of each bracket, to receive them, with 'overlap- .ping endjoints, and then nail on the sloping board, so as to leave a properspace for the water to pass, and also to secure the gutter againstlateral or other displacement. Should the gutter be of any flexiblewatertight fabric,

Ivdeem it best to leave a wider space, and tack it in strips to theboards.

It is a matter of simple calculation to determine how many rods offenceit will be necessary for afarmer to cap in the manner described toenable him to fill up a reservoir with sufficient water to last (withthe aid of occasional showers,) during the ordinary period of drouth;and if the grounds of contiguous farms happened to be equally or 'nearlyfavorable in regard to grade, the construction of the reservoir might bea joint expense, and each proprietor share the benets, by capping withrain-collecting boards and gutters a proportionate length of fence.

To make my rain-collecting fence as efcient as possible, by avoiding thewastage of overflow, it is best to select a line of ground for itserection such as will furnish, as far as practicable, a low grade atcommencement, and higher one as it nears its termination at thereservoir, so that, as the current of water increases in volume during ashower, it may increase proportionally in velocity. `Should such anatural grade be unattainable, I usually increase the capacity of thegutters toward the discharge-end.

The collecting-boards A may be 'of any desirable width, and set t0 suchangle as will best receive and discharge or shed. the most water from agiven surface; and, .instead of making the supporting-brackets in onepiece and cutting out the angle of support, they may be in two pieces,nailed separately 'to the post, as seen in dotted lines.

I do not design to limit. the application of the rain-collecting boardsand gutters to permanent fences, nor in connection with an artiflcialreservoir, for there are natural surface depressions, retentive ofwater, which, by the aid of. my invention, applied to fences of aportable character, set up temporarily, might be fllled by a few showersduring a season of scarcity, that would not otherwise, on account ofabsorption by the parched ground.

My invention is designed, mainly, to aid in collecting `rain where theroofs of the buildings do not furnish a sufficient supply, and where thewells are deep and liable to dry up 5 also to save the time and laborspent indriv- Water to artificial or natural reservoirs7 subng stock toWater7 at the barn or elsewhere7 stantially as and for the purposeherein speci- On What are called dry farms. ed.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isas7follows: LUTHER HOWE The rain-collecting boards A and. rain-gut-Witnesses:

ters B, in connection and combination with a G. T. COOK,

farm-fence, for collecting and conveying rain- OTTO L. JOHNSON.

